Micron hit by manufacturing glitch, makes loss

LONDON Ė Memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc. was impacted by problems in manufacturing as well slow demand for some of its component types in the first quarter of its fiscal 2013 year.

Micron (Boise, Idaho) made a net loss of $275 million on revenues of $1.83 billion for the quarter ended Nov. 29, 2012. This compares with a net loss of $243 million on net sales of $2.0 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, and a net loss of $187 million on net sales of $2.1 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2012.

Sales were down 6.6 percent sequentially and 12.2 percent compared with the same quarter a year before.

Micron reported revenues from NAND Flash sales were 4 percent lower in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, due to a 9 percent decrease in sales volume, partially offset by a 5 percent increase in average selling prices.

Revenues from sales of DRAM products in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 were 9 percent lower compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 primarily due to an 11 percent decrease in average selling prices.

"Our sales volume for both NAND and DRAM was below our initial forecast for the quarter as we experienced some manufacturing and supply-chain challenges. We are confident these issues have been addressed and will not negatively impact fiscal Q2," said Mark Durcan, CEO of Micron in a conference call with financial analysts.

Although executives were asked about the manufacturing problems executives declined to go into detail. They said that the problems were "nothing out of the ordinary" but had created supply chain disruptions that had led to an inability to get all the product out that the company might otherwise have done.